I love America.
With all its contradictions and excess, it has always had me under its spell. First came the Disney Channel years and Hannah Montana’s Malibu mansion, then The O.C. making me dream of California, followed by Carrie and the girls making me fall for New York. America soundtracked so many phases of my life that I’d romanticised it long before I ever truly experienced it.
But beyond the television mythology, the country music and all the rest, what has always inspired me most is the sense of freedom at the core of so many Americans. Their confidence, openness, and that let’s-make-it-happen attitude. Something I have always admired and that makes me love my American friends so much.
And because I loved New York and New Yorkers so much, it only felt fair to experience the other great icon of the West Coast. There is still an almost infinite amount of the States I want to see and understand, but LA felt like the natural next chapter. So here we are, ten days in the City of Angels, trying to blend in with the locals with little to no success…
I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the city. My romanticism kept bringing me back to the orange sunsets I saw on TV, Hollywood and matcha lattes, but LA is not only that. The city is way more fucked up than the glossy clichés attached to it.
Structurally, LA feels endless. No verticality, just a lot of concrete. The city is designed to make you drive everywhere and walk nowhere. The streets are wide but empty, and while space can feel freeing, too much of it starts to feel lonely. Don’t get me wrong, every big city can be isolating, but LA often feels built against proximity, and therefore against intimacy too.
If it wasn’t for the immense amount of very friendly doggies, interaction in LA often felt almost impossible. Everyone seemed just a little too cool for it, which left me constantly wondering whether people were pretending to be rich and famous or whether they actually were rich and famous and this was simply the posture you adopt to survive here. I saw plenty of smiles but not always warmth. At one point, I was asked what my star sign was before I was asked my name, although I did get complimented on my aura shortly after, so I guess that counts as a win.
Still, for all my confusion, I found myself admiring the laid-back pace of the city and the unapologetic self-expression of its people, which felt surprisingly refreshing to witness in a place so massive.
The overall feeling was that of a city that once felt deeply important and relevant and is now desperately clinging to an aura that has long disappeared. A city with more homeless people than any other I have personally seen, yet also one with one of the highest concentrations of billionaires. Everyone seemed so busy trying to show everyone else how cool or important they were that the result felt pretty hollow, something I knew existed but had never seen quite so rampantly. Then again, this is just the perspective of a very European woman who does not even have a driving licence and who perhaps simply needed more time to understand a city that is far more complicated than it looks.
Fashion-wise, LA is either mega rock ’n’ roll and edgy or entirely functional. The vintage scene was very eccentric, with many standout pieces and a lot of Y2K that reminded me both of East London and my teenage years. It was very fun to witness but definitely outside my style range. I’ll leave a little guide to the places you cannot miss behind the paywall for my lovely paid subscribers.
One thing about sunny LA is that it truly is paradise for lovers of spring and summer dressing and, even though I didn’t pack much, I had a lot of fun mixing and matching with simplicity and focusing on mood. My outfits reflected that too, with interchangeable pieces creating an almost infinite number of different looks. So let’s get to it, here are my favourites.
Easy but with a little twist. I was still crazily jet-lagged, so this felt easy and comfortable but, in order to make it a little less boring, I added my beloved lace and fringed scarf and my oversized Piave sunglasses, which are a cheaper version of the massive Céline ones you are seeing everywhere.
You know by now my love for brown. It gives me more brightness than black does but with the same uniform-like comfort. This was a particularly hot day and the destination was Santa Monica, so what better fit for a stroll on the beach and a little shopping? I wore these trousers to death. I recommend buying your original size, my body dysmorphia made me buy a medium and I had to tailor them. But the real hit was this draped silk top, which is just pure perfection! This bag also saved my life. It’s beautiful, massive and perfect for any occasion.
Monochromatic looks make my life easier. I select the pieces by colour and all I have to do afterwards is pick the accessories I want to spice it up with. It’s straightforward but with the right amount of creativity required to keep me satisfied. One hero of this look is actually the hair comb, which has been saving my life this whole trip.
These capris are the best thing I have purchased in the last three months. They make every look super feminine and are incredibly flattering. I just had to add a little kitten heel to feel put together with literally zero effort.
Special mention also goes to a few things that genuinely carried me through this trip. This spray saved my skin during the long-haul flight and became my favourite thing to use after the beach too. I also barely used anything besides this serum, eye cream and SPF moisturiser combination the entire time. (I love SK get yourself some goodies with a little discount THEINSIDEPOCKET20)
And now, to the Vintage!
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